Tether
by QuinIndigo
Summary: What god has bound together let no man put asunder. What if there was someone out there who was your prefect soulmate and at birth you're tethered to them? That would be wonderful, except what happens to them happens to you. If they die, you die and in my world that isn't so hard to imagine. I thought my world was perfect but I'm beginning to realize how fragile it is.
1. Chapter 1

Romance/Supernatural/Drama

Story takes place in a futuristic alternative universe.

Twilight doesn't belong to me.

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One

Scientist of our time cannot explain why we are, the way we are, most modern theorist just chalk it up to it being another step in human revolution to reduce conflict between ourselves. Which is ironic considering what a bloody start it was. Sometime around the mid-22nd century the first cases of tethering appeared and mistakes were made. Many horrible mistakes, as first those who were bonded were banished from society, because it was taught to be some sort of severe mental disorder caused by environmental pollution which was rampant at the time. Then there was the civil war between those who were tethered and those who did not have the mental capacity to be tethered, both sides thought that the other was an abomination. Then after nearly fifty years of fighting, laws were drafted to protect mates and the norms. Norms was the name given to those born without soulmates. A term which has long become extinct as the last norm had died over 100 years ago.

I remember the first time it happened, I awoke in the middle of the night bleeding from a long gash down my right arm, that obviously wasn't there before I fell asleep. It hurt so much and bought tears to my eyes. I just sat there sobbing, rocking back and forth cradling my arm when dad found me and bandaged the wound. I was ten. Mom and dad weren't the best at explaining things because they were a set of mismatch.

A mismatch are those humans who've decided to genetically sever their bonds in favor of someone else, it was highly frowned upon in our society but obviously that doesn't stop people from doing it anyway. Mom says it's a long, painful process, complications can often lead to death making it illegal in some sectors and that just because someone is your soulmate it doesn't mean you should always be together. Some relationships are toxic waste and I guess hers was and we never spoke about James, it's a weird fluke that I even know his name.

As I said, they're not the best at explaining, so they give me a holograph loaded with all the information I needed. I'd stay up countless nights reviewing the information and wondering and daydreaming about who my soulmate was. By that point the only thing I knew about him, was that he was perpetually reckless if the number of scrapped knees and elbows is anything to go by.

One quirk of being soulmates is that you can actually borrow skills or habits from each other, when you're younger its spontaneous and hard to control, but when you learn how to you can borrow the best traits from them. Turn it on and off when you want too and block out the worse traits, like when I turned 10, I suddenly knew how to skate board and play the piano although I'd never learned how and had a knack for chemistry which would later evolve into chemical engineering. I couldn't help but feel proud of my mate for being so mart and I found myself learning and picking up different skills and quirks because I wanted him to know the best of me too. I started learning another language, took creative writing and abstract painting classes.

Today's my 17th birthday and after years of borrowing his habits and sharing each other's bumps and bruises. I'll finally get to know who he is and given the opportunity to spend time together.

Mom has mixed feelings about the ceremony after school today, but doesn't say anything just forces a smile. It makes her look like she's sucking on a lemon and I'm not fooled for a moment. Dad is more the more stable one out of the two and I resemble him the most with my waist length dark chocolate hair and eyes. I wish I could talk to mom about what's running through my head, how excited I am to finally attach a face to my fantasies but terrified I am of how real it is now. It's not just a distant beginning, knowing that soon I'll have to move away from them. But I can't I know this day will be tough on her, fear is a powerful lithium. As she does my hair in front of the mirror, I can feel her normally steady fingers shaking, and I reach a hand up to grasp hers looking at her eyes in the floor length mirror.

"Mom it's going to be alright. All bonds are successful 98.9% percent of the time and I promise I won't move away right now. You've still got two years with me. I'm not going to lose myself in some other person. I'm way too stubborn." I say with a smirk and some life returns to her eyes and she giggles nervously, continuing to wrap my hair around a heated wand to create curls that she'll pin in an up do. Though the weight of my hair often gives me a headache. It is un seemingly for me to wear it down in public, it's a sign of my being unmarked. You're not considered legally tethered in the eyes of the state until you've received your mark or crest given, even though your names are recorded in the database under the male's family line. The dress rest just above my knee and shaped out at the waist with a high neck collar and three quarter sleeves.

"You say that now, but it's different once you meet him, get to know him and you start feeling that magnetic pull to always be together. When you're apart you borrow the others traits more to make up for the ache in your heart. You don't even know him yet and I can see it in your eyes that you'd be willing to give your heart to him." She sighs, before placing the last pin in place creating a pineapple waterfall of hair down the side of my head that reaches my shoulder, exposing most of my neck.

That's the one thing she has always banged into my head ever since I could remember. Know yourself so thoroughly you'll be able to love with your entire self. To her the greatest crime was loving somebody so much that you lost the essence of what makes you special. She always made sure I was active in different stuff because she wanted me to be well rounded I used to think well rounded was a euphemism for being larger than life. At first I used to resent my parents thinking they were ashamed of me, they just wanted to get me out of their way so that they could go to fancy fundraisers and parties. Vacation Talent camps were fun when I finally learned to come out of my shell a bit and I later learned that they just wanted to create more opportunities for me to possibly bump into my mate before my 17th birthday. Alas that didn't happen. I was painfully shy when I was younger and I didn't start speaking until I was five. The different classes and activities I took opened a new window to the world for me. Suddenly I was restless and wanted to see all of it. All my leaps into new hobbies didn't work out though.

The disaster that was ballet classes introduced my parents to my inability to negotiate a flat surface. After that I wasn't signed up for anything remotely athletic.

"You make me sound like a hopeless puppy." I laugh. "I won't lie, I'm scared and really nervous. It feels like a nest of butterflies have taken over my stomach, but this just feels right. I'll always be my own person mom and I'll visit regularly even though I hate the rain." I know she means well, she just wants to make sure that what happened to her doesn't happen to me, so I put up with her fussing as best as I can.

"After school, you and Rosalie should hang out. You haven't seen her in a while, the proper time has passed it should be okay now." I nearly drop the holopad I was tinkering with. I can't believe she'd actually choose to come back. Rose has been my best friend since we were five after saving me from some mean girls on the playground, three months ago her dad died in an accident at one of micro-chip plants in the city, taking her mother with him. He was the Head scientist working on some new form of technology for the government. Naturally everybody started speculating that he became a liability and the explosion was a perfect way to get rid of any evidence that may implicate the suspects. The investigations that were carried out for weeks after and the public demanding the release of the files from the plant just fed the fire. It's a small sector and the rumors took a toll on my already grieving friend, she had to get away. Even I wasn't allowed to see her. She went away with her aunt and uncle.

I know it was hard for her, but the fact that she shut me out and specifically made request for me not to be allowed to see her had hurt my feelings. Though logically I had no right to be hurt, her parents had just died. Then she left without saying good bye. I ending up hearing about it from dad, who heard it from her father's former lab assistant who quit the job three months before the accident. She didn't write me, not once. I worried about her the entire time. I knew I was being selfish though, she was my only friend in a Town that wasn't so kind to the child of a mismatched set. Tolerance and equality is much better appreciated in the larger sectors. Here not so much. Most of the adults thinks my parents are new age and sophisticated and represent the upscale city to life, the teenagers well they think I'm a freak.

I always did need her, more than she needed me and the time away helped me to deal with my own problems. I never did tell my parents about the snide remarks the other teenagers in my batch made. A weight on my chest I only talked about with Rosalie, but now she has her own weight to sling around in a slouchy bag. Everyone says she's an entitled ice princess and difficult and they're right to people who don't know here she is, but she's also the only person I can trust who will always tell me the truth no matter how much it hurts and fiercely loyally she stood up for me on the first day of school. I'm not going to bail on her at the first sign of trouble

"I'm not sure I would be helpful." I say and go back to scanning the holopad for anything interesting on the feed. "She just needs her friend Bella, maybe you being there is comfort enough." I sigh and roll my eyes at my mother suggestion.

"I think that she needs space away from it all, not to be badgered by anyone."

"Isolation is unhealthy." She comments. "Mom, not everyone heals that's way, girls like Angela and me like staying low when it calls for it." But she still insists saying. "So, even if she turns down visiting with you again she'll still know that you care and you're there for her if she changes her mind." I laugh and shake my head.

"I'll think about it, but for now. I don't think coming back here was the best thing. If I were her I'd probably get as far away from plastic doom ville as I can and never look back." Mom shakes her head at me. Our sector isn't actually called that. Its named Arcadia, after the bright pink hybrid flower that grows in nearly every body of water here. It's beautiful and makes the constant rain nearly bearable. Plastic doom ville is just my nickname for it.

"See, this is what I'm so worried about. You've got a restless heart and always so excited to get away. Sometimes I'm not sure if that's you or somebody else. Are you running from me?" she says with a mock stern face. I roll my eyes again at her, another bad habit of mine. Dad says if I keep doing it my pupils might end up being stuck looking upward.

"You very well know that it's me and who would be the one to make sure I look like an upstanding member of society?" I didn't care for girly stuff and would rather wear trousers and jackets. Mom is the one who makes sure that I look like the daughter of a prominent member of society. I couldn't care less, but I do it anyway if only to appease that small apart of me who still wants validation from society. I wanted to fit in seamlessly like everyone else did, show them that I wasn't born a mistake just because of who my parents are.

"I know sweetie. I guess I'm coming down with empty nest syndrome. Your fathers waiting downstairs for you." She kisses me on the forehead before gliding out of the room. I sigh to myself before rolling my eyes and making a huge flourishing movement to the room, watching as my scattered books and music holograms pick themselves up off the floor and corners before gliding onto the racks of invisible shelves that disappear into the walls. Another flourish and my crumpled bed makes itself and folds into a sky blue day bed. Metal curtains peel back and expose a window wall behind me.

I move from my vanity, which sinks into the floor to relieve space, and lean against the glass watching the rain beat against the windows creating small explosions of water against the surface and melting into rivers of liquid that drown the earth beneath. Outside trees and forest stretch out for what seems like miles before me with twinkles of random lights in between to break up the monotone of green and brown. Even though it's the 25th century the governments very strict on the preservation of plant life so most of our technology is built around it instead of through it and my parent's home is a perfect example, built into the side of a small mountain. Everything in our home is fueled by clean energy. A glass doom shields the roads and most of the public buildings from the weather and looks like a million transparent tubes and bubbles form so far away. Most tend to live as close to the square as possible, but not my dad.

Though I put on a brave face for mom, I really am scared as much as I'm excited. I've always been a cautious person, organized and meticulously in control of everything I do. That's not how life works though, it makes a habit of throwing a wrench into your plans as often as possible. The thought of never being alone, of always having someone on your side is a comfort in this unknown world but I'm human so I have my doubts. They're the usual stuff, what if he doesn't love me as much as I'll love him or I end up like my parents and voluntarily go through the surgery to get away from how intense and over whelming it is? Nothings certain but I'm not going to let my fear conquer me. I've always been safe and careful, while everyone else was learning to fly hovercrafts or hack into mech systems. I was learning dead languages and reading. This could be my new adventure. The dying man's regret is that he didn't fulfill his dreams.

I adjust the collar of my dress and slip on my shoes, stepping onto the transfer pad and typing in a short series of instructions on my wrist and closing my eyes. The transfer has always made me queasy, closing my eyes makes it better and stifles the paranoia in the part of my brain that screams that the transfer pad will malfunction and leave me with missing body parts or broken bones from being calibrated incorrectly. That happened once, when I was five and I ended up with a broken arm that required surgery to reconstruct. Needless to say they tech that installed it was fired. When I open my eyes again, I'm in dads in dad's lab. If I'm the epitome of a cluttered mess, dad is the god father of meticulous organization. He's so OCD I wonder how he even stands to stay in a house with mom for more than a day.

He looks up from his erratic scribbling at the floating hologram, of an exotic species of reptile. I don't bother asking which. His glasses fall down to rest on the bridge of his nose. "Bells!" Dear god, I hate that name but just for today I'll tolerate it. "Hey dad." I shuffle over and hop onto his desk, disrupting a dust covered pile of electrical trinkets, an annoyed glare is shot my way I smiled smugly.

That's what you get for calling me Bells. I shrug my shoulders innocently. "I wanted to give you something. I know, I know you don't like your birthday." He said before I could start protesting. "but I wanted to give you something in remembrance of today. When I met your mother I didn't imagine that we'd be where we are today. Just because you're soul mates, the road to happiness won't always be easy. This is so you remember what's always in front of you." With those words he reaches into his desk drawer and pulls out a package sealed with transparent plastic and I gasp in shock snatching it away from him. It's a book. A real book and my eyes whelm up with tears and I fight them back. I'm not going to cry today. It's a 2005 double feature edition of Wuthering heights and Pride and Prejudice, my favorite books.

"Where'd you get this? They abolished civilian access to printed books because of environmental degradation." All books printed on paper were digitally integrated some time ago. I don't really care what his answer is, I'm just so excited that I'm holding a real book, I flip it over and over running my hands on the pages. Real pages! Real paper! Its yellowed with age and crinkled at some pages, but sealed over with a thin layer of plastic. The plastic is so pliable and thin that you only known it's there because of the slight sheen on the paper. This way I know it will never tear or be easily destroyed.

I hop off the desk and propel myself into his arms with such force a disgruntled grunt emits from his chest and he awkwardly pats my back. Dad isn't used to showing affection, it makes him uncomfortable. His previous admission is more than I've heard him speak in one setting in years.

"of course you know you've got to keep my little gift to yourself." He mumbles into my shoulder as I let him go. "Yeah I know." I sigh to myself, keeping it hidden doesn't negate how valuable his gift is to me. I shrink it down to the size of a small business card and slip it into the secret compartment in the sleeve of my dress. There's a huge risk in taking it with me anywhere, but bio scanners cannot pick up the chemical signature of paper, they haven't been programmed to do so. It was found to be unnecessary to include such a feature.

I step back on to the transfer pad and give a little wave before letting it whisk me away to the upper floor. My driver Dimitri is already waiting for me on the transport platform next to a white oval shaped seamless pod. He never talks to me and I don't mind the silence so I don't bother them. I'm not even sure he blinks ever, his eyes are a steel grey with jet black hair and a pair of tech glasses on his face. He never takes it off, I assume it makes his security job better. Dad hired him when I was seven and he's been here ever since. I give a small awkward smile, as he presses his palm against the right side of the pod and I slip in. The inside of the little pod is pure white with a sunken floor fluffed up with pillows with lights attached to the top. You can see through the entire thing but no one can see in, Dimitri slips into the driver seat and runs a diagnostic scan before warming up the engines. Pods are normally computer automated, but like I said over protective parents.

I nearly shriek in fright when a voice rings out from the pile of fluffy slouchy chairs next to me. "You look terrible. Purple was never your color."

"Rose!" If I wasn't so happy to see her, I'd try to strangle her for scaring me. Breakfast nearly made a combat. "I look terrible, you look terrible. If terrible needed definition an imagine of you right now would do it. I can't believe Dimitri let you in." I say gently sitting beside her. "Oh he didn't your mom did."

For a moment I can pretend that nothing happened and that she's alright, even though she's put together. Her eyes are tight around the edges and it looks like any little breeze might break her, but I decide if she doesn't want to talk about it I won't bring it up.

"To be human, is to feel and there is no feeling more painful than suffering, but as a Wiseman said this too shall pass." Is all I say, for a moment I think she'll cry but she burst out with a sarcastic laugh and with that simple gesture I know that this pass six months have changed her irrevocably. "Yeah well they always say pain is a construct of the mind, yet when I nearly fell of a hover this morning it was my body that hurt. Trust you to say some well-meaning but cheesy poetic phrase. At least you tried. I'm sorry I didn't let you see me, but it wasn't my choice." I shrug my shoulders and wait for her to continue. "I couldn't even com you, it just wasn't going happen." And what she's dancing around not saying. It doesn't even hurt anymore.

"It's okay, with the investigation going on it wouldn't have look good for your family to be associated with a mismatch. Everyone knows your aunt is a traditionalist." And we bought let out a fake laugh before falling into silence watching the scenery stream by in a blur of bright colors. I can almost forget it's raining today, good thing clothes are engineered to be weather resistant at least for those who can afford it.

"I'm here if you ever need me." I say casually. "Yeah I know, and this is also the first and last time you'll ever hear me apologized." There's a hardness in her eyes, that will never be erased by anything and with that simple expression I am reminded that adulthood is the place where everything you once loved about the world goes to die. I'm a contradiction of excitement and anxiety, because as much as I try to squash that pool of dread in my stomach something just feels wonderful awful about this day. Our mates will be revealed to us, after years of wondering but I don't feel like I'm as happy as I should be.

The pod operates like a train, magnetic plates line the tracks-and the bottom of the pod-that run parallel to the road so that the pod never actually touches the ground it's just held in place by a powerful magnetic force. " I'm just gonna look on the bright side, I'll get to see my mate today." She grumbles and rolls her eyes and I laugh. I know she's only half kidding, she's just as excited to meet her mate as I am to meet mine, but its hard to be excited about anything and not be braced for disappointed when life has dealt you the hand Rose got. "You've got to give me every single detail, I can't wait to meet the guy that faith says can handle you. " She lightly punches me in the arm before cracking a genuine smile. I feel victorious because I haven't seen a real smile on her in months. " Ugh, which means you're gonna be a love sick romantic even more than usual, you with your pre-historic novels and such." She rolls her eyes again with a dismissive hand gesture.

"They're not that old, and I am not an Old romantic." I huff, she snorts in disbelief. I'm not.

We're silent the rest of the drive to school and that's what I like best. She doesn't make the silence awkward or make me feel rude for being caught in another day dream.

The pod comes to a stop outside a light beige and cream building that floats on smooth granite stones that shine enough to be noticeable, the main building of our school is lined to radius windows and attached to several other small buildings that look like disjointed Lego structures of the same color and radius windows. The rain makes it seem more depressing than it actually is and I press my thumb against the scanner by hatch which pops open, pulling the hoodie of my dress over my head and hoping out of the pod onto the smooth gravel. My feet barely touch the ground before the artificial gravity repulsion mechanization under my shoes kick in and I'm floating on air.

Four hours of classes i won't be able to pay attention to today before we're called into the keepers arrive to present us with our matched files and I get to spend one blissful hour in a private port room with my mate on a port screen. Physical first meetings cane become over whelming so its always best to start off slow at least that's what the keepers insist on.

When I first see him it's like the entire world has exploded in a magnificent display of electrifying sensation and has pieced itself back together to form something just the same but totally different. The center of my world has shifted. Butterflies erupt in the depths of stomach falling over each other and bursting at the seams. I'm filled with so much emotion, that my heart feels like it will burst out of my chest at any moment and my skin tingles with a new sense of the atmosphere. Everything Is clearer and yet unfocused like a camera struggling to adjust its lenses. The world has been trapped in his bright green eyes and I can't look away from the screen, my mouth waters and my eyes become super sensitive to light. Like when you try to stare directly into the sun and water pools in your eyes and you have to look away. no matter how powerful the urge to look up is again.

Something inside just clicks into place and I know that I'd be able to find him anywhere, no matter the distance. It's the first time I've been able to feel the bond between us in a physical sense of the word. His presence has always been there in the back of my mind, a soft reassuring pressure, but seeing him even if just through a combination of high definition mega pixels on a hover screen makes it real. I understand now.I should be scared at how powerful my emotions are, but I'm not for the first time in my life i feel completely at peace and alive at the same time. The hazed storm that was my mind, is now a calm ocean.

He has unruly reddish copper hair that looks madly disheveled, some of it falling over his eyebrows and other parts of it sticking up like he ran his hand through it a thousand times. Intense green eyes and a jaw line that could have been crafted by Micheal Angelo himself, even sitting down i can tell he's well over 6' feet tall and lanky in built. He's the most handsome man on earth, even by my own ears i realize how bias that sounds but i can't help it. As i stare into those eyes that keep me captive, I wonder if he finds me just as overwhelming beautiful as I do him. The thought makes me nibble on my bottom lip and his eyes are instantly drawn to the movement. He clears his throat and speaks.

"One of us should say something, but I'm lost for words. I thought I'd have some eloquent thoughts on the tip of my tongue for when i first see your face but..." He trails off in a nervous laugh, that warms my heart and rakes his fingers through his hair before his lips settle in a half smirk. I return his smile.

" I thought so too." I mutter , pushing my current of hair behind my ears. The sound of my heart beating frantically in my chest makes it hard to think clearly for a moment.

"We should.." He trails off gesturing to the bowl containing a marking stamp and cloth. Though we both already know the truth, some things must be officially recorded for the keepers. It puts people's minds at rest that no mistakes were made. I nod, picking the knife up and twirling it in my hand. "Ready,inside of the wrist." He stretches his arm in front of himself for me to see. I grab the stamp and outstretch my right arm as well. Without taking my eyes off his, i position it over the desired spot and gently press the sharp side of the stamp over the flesh, hissing softly at the sting.

We both wait with baited breath, watching as an identical crest blossoms on the same spot above his wrist, just as pink and sore as mine. I let out a startled laugh that's half joy and half relief. Discarding the blood stained stamp in the bowl, wriggling my nose at the metallic smell of blood and quickly wrap my wrist in the cloth bandage provided, securing the snaps on the side. The bandage is laced with healing agents and be properly healed in four hours. The raised lines of his family crest scared into my skin and his. My eyes whelm up with tears, I feel like I'm watching myself from an observation deck somewhere, all my nerve endings feel so alive that they might actually explode. I rub lightly at it before running the digital scanner over it, green letters gloss across the screen in front of me ACCEPTED and I fold my arms in my lap and staring back at him. Our files start to load at the bottom of the screen.

"My names Isabella Swan, but everyone who values their life call's me Bella. "

"I'm Edward Cullen and a really embarrassing hover board accident explains the scar above both our eyebrows." My hand automatically touches the thin scar nearly hidden by the dark hair of my eyebrows.

"Why don't you tell me about it anyway." After all, I do owe him an explanation for all the scrapped knees and the twisted ankle debacle among other things. No matter what I choose now, nothing will ever be the same. Its amazing how one hour can completely change your life.

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 **Sorry for any mistakes, don't forget to fav and leave a review if you liked it.**


	2. Chapter 2

Romance/Supernatural/Drama

Story takes place in a futuristic alternative universe.

Twilight doesn't belong to me.

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 **A huge Thank you to everyone who reviewed, faved and followed my story. You guys bought a huge smile to my face.**

 **Two**

It feels like hours, but at the same time barely minutes. We talk about everything in our allotted hour, from the latest music to that time his brother lost all of his teeth in a prank gone wrong to politics and technology. Everything. It makes me feel like I know him more than I know myself and I still want to know more.

We're like the most similar pair of polar opposites you could find, I wasn't popular but he was, even though he says different. I can tell from here, that the isolation he so loves to enjoy is mainly by choice. He tells me stories about the piano lessons he'd have with his father every day before bed, because it was tradition and it allowed them to spend time together to make up for when he couldn't be there in person. I too know how disheartening it is spend time with a hologram version of a real person and then be slapped with the reality that they're not really there, just a place holder for a person that should. Nothing makes you feel more lonely than that. He sees the understanding dawn in my eyes and quirks an awkward smile before we move on to lighter topics, it's our first meeting after all.

"Well that explains a lot, to fall asleep some nights I'd try to mimic your lessons of that day but I was never anywhere as good as you on an actual piano. It made me love music more, it was calming after long days. It helped." I say as he cracks his knuckles and I try not to stare at how long and elegant his fingers are and how it would feel when he runs his fingers down my spine or holds my hand and I shiver involuntarily and I blink rapidly and clear my throat.

He rakes his fingers through his hair, and I wish it was my fingers instead. After that we basically swap childhood accidents, combined we've had enough to write an entire article.

"Don't laugh, my elbow was stuck in a sling for three weeks thanks to you and because Carlisle didn't bother to explain how bonds worked to me cause he thought I'd research it. I told everyone that I fell off the roof glider it was easier to explain." though he specifically requested that I don't laugh, I can't help but giggle hysterically. "I was clumsy and paired with your bad habit of curiosity I drove my parents crazy, Mom still has pictures of me dangling upside down from the rafters of the living room because I thought I saw a real spider." I don't mention the fact that she didn't let me out of my room for a week, I called it the apocalypse week.

It's his turn to laugh at my pain, but I don't mind cause his laugh warms me from the chest out and leaves my limbs with a pleasant tingle. I'm not sure if we're sharing each other's joy or not even though I took my anti neurotransmitter pills this morning before I left or who knows maybe our bond was powerful enough to override it. I just think its pure happiness and its best not to question it.

"But dad felt sorry for me, and it led to being one of the best nights of my life. I got to touch real grass." Even though the keepers don't record any conversations between mates, I know I'm still taking a stretch by telling him this but secrets shared between mates will only ever be between us and I've never told anyone and a part of me for some strange reason wants him to know this about me. Something that no one else does. I glance at the security cam in the corner of the screen to make sure its lens is close and the blue light that signals its inactivity is still blinking and automatically sigh in relief. " Sometimes I'd visit with the credentials he cloned for me and just sit there and read for hours, imagining what the world must have been like before. What it would have been like to be a part of that society." I look down shyly, as I expect him to admonish me for wishing such a thing.

The society before was considered uncivilized and backwards, though the art and the sciences have been preserved and admired and protected, the people of today hold little appreciation for their predecessors. I however often find myself fascinated by the flaws that made us, by the imperfections maybe it's because I've always felt like I don't belong. Just a little bit separate from everyone else.

I sigh heavily and gaze back at the screen only to find Edward gazing intently at me, like one would study a language of the intricacies of the biological make up of human beings, with a gentle smile gracing his lips. It gives me the courage to continue speaking. "But then the accident happened, and the security became nearly impossible to bypass. Dad wouldn't risk me sneaking in anymore for fear of what would happen if I ever got caught. It's the one thing I'll sorely miss when I'm gone from here." A twinge of sadness seeps into my voice.

"I never thought you'd be the reckless type, feel free to carter me away to any place of your choosing." He says spreading his arms wide across his toned chest, which I noticed even underneath the expanse of his soft grey t-shirt. I wish I was that t-shirt and the thought brings a smile to my face again.

" Yes well I'm not the reckless type, you are." I point my finger at him in mock accusation. " I just had to find something to channel it into to that wouldn't drive me or the neighbors mad." Edward leans forward in his chair giving me an unprecedented view of his face, and I automatically do the same propping my elbows on the control panel in front of me. In my imagination I can almost feel his breathe on my cheek.

"Bella, I'd never keep you away from your family or your sector. Sometimes I wonder as well. Maybe one of us will be next Elezear Denali and invent capsulized dreamscapes. " My face threatens to explode from all the smiling I've been doing today as I watch him he fail miserably at his impressions of the arrogant business man who invented the first time programmer. It lets you relive any day in your life ranging from 2-8 hours. The machines are very popular in the Technology and Medical Sectors, including the main capital but was insanely expensive, not to mention the psychological implications .

If you kept visiting the machine how do keep your grasp on reality? For a moment I think of Rosalie and her daily treatments and not for the first of even second time I truly wonder if it was harming her more than helping her. I shake my head viciously, knocking a couple curls loose from my elaborate hairdo, as if the motion alone would rid the notion from my mind.

Edward makes a motion with his hand, as if tucking a curl behind my ear before folding his arms again letting out a sigh of longing. We sit in comfortable silence just looking at each other, hardly breathing as if any sudden movements would render each other a figment of imagination. He's the first to break the silence, the tenor of his voice so soft it almost sounds musical.

"I'd never thought about doing it because up until now I've never lived a day I thought would be with revisiting ." He says, running his elegant fingers through his hair again and a blush heats up my cheeks and my heart thunders in my chest as I drag my sweaty palms across my lap, rumpling the fabric of my dress, but I don't look away from his intense green eyes . " Me neither." I reply, and my voice cracks with some unknown emotion. I feel overwhelmed and dizzy, and torn between being grateful or resentful for the gentle ping that goes off in my head and the tiny script that runs across my retina scanner which indicates that our time is over.

I touch my hand to the screen where his hand is one last time before the com shuts off, presenting a blank slate to me almost as if nothing was there. My retina scanner continues to upload instructions into my head, and I sigh again before leaving the room free for the next girl who'll finally see the face of her mate.

The walk back to the main hall, where i'll official give up my hair pin that marked me as a single, is almost surreal and I can't stop staring at the complicated crest through the transparent bandage on my wrist. All the old books I've read outer body experience a lot and I think I finally understand the term. All of my senses still tingle and I rub my thumbs back and front on the smooth surface of the memory slate he gave me.

The most precious thing in the world for me is the info capsule tucked inside my pocket. It's absolutely cruel that they're two more hours to go before school lets out. How do they expect us to pay attention to anything for the rest of the day, when everyone will be too preoccupied with thoughts of their mate to care about anything but I guess that's part of learning self-control and independence from the bond

My sense are sharper than normal, though they've thought you all your life what to expect nothing can really ever prepare you. According to the guidelines the razor sharpness of everything will fade when i fall asleep tonight. As I enter the main hall I spot several of my classmates- all females, genders are schooled separately-converged in various groups talking in hushed but excited tones, while the Keepers like sentinels sit at a high table on the elevated platform in the middle of the room. The light streaming in from the ceiling to floor windows illuminates the red- not neon red, but blood red- robes that they wear, to the point that it stings my eyes and I can't look at them for long.

Each District has Two Keepers. They do exactly as their names suggest they keep the records of every mated pair, record and analyze bonds and make sure the transition to your new life goes smoothly. They were the ones who came up with the technology to identify bonds. The very first keeper was named Marcus and there's a statue of him in the school courtyard, I'd see girls of all ages drop off little trinkets and jewels and letters under the crevice of his stone palm for good luck. Keepers were considered the most important individuals in our society even above the president, second to only to God.

Their stares remind me of people at a petting zoo, or new parents at a viewing nursery trying to pick out their offspring from the next. Frankly its quite uncomfortable and makes me feel like an experiment. Before I can spend my time dwelling on that though, someone grips my elbow tightly and a startled gasp from my throat as I clutch at my chest and I turn around to see who it is. Rose's smirking face greets me and I give my best impression of one of her famous glares. " Rose if you were trying to give me a heart attack, surely they're smarter ways to kill me." and she laughs.

The sound of her laugh after months of its absence is enough to soothe my slight irritation and before I can say anything else she shoves a holo-pic in front of my face. It's a head shot of a classical handsome man with mischievous green eyes with flicks of blue at the iris, smirking up at me with a dimple in each cheek with black shirt cropped curly hair that gives him a hint of boyishness, but from the massive muscles of his upper chest and arms I can tell he's far from a boy. "His name's Emmett McCarty."

As she says this the holo-pic disintegrates right before our eyes like wisps' of sand been scattered in the wind and I laugh at the disheartened huff she lets out. "You know they don't let us keep pictures." I murmur shuffling my feet in a nervous habit.

"Sooooo...aren't gonna tell me. whats his name, whats he like? I bet he's a huge old age nerd like yourself. Tell me everything." Rose grabs my elbow and pulls me out of the main hall with her, and gestures towards the gardens. "They'll be looking for us.." I whine and she shoots me a glare and I shrug. "Just blame me like you always do,besides I've got a free pass might as well use it."  
we stand on the edge of boundary separating the stone pavilion from the garden, placing our feet on two platforms and a rush of warmth envelops me for a couple seconds before disappearing and I step onto the garden path that leads to the fountain benches.

Just as we're about to sit down, I feel a sharp twist in my gut that makes it difficult to breathe and when I finally draw breath its like water in my lungs and I double over in pain. "Bella!" Rose exclaims and I meet her frightened blue eyes, her arms wrap around me holding me up but I can't stand and we both melt in a tangle of limbs to the ground. Her hands are covered in dark red, its stains her ivory robes and its so beautiful. Everything's blurred around the edges like a daydream you're trying to wake up from and somewhere in the back of my mind I know I'm going into shock but I'm not the one that's truly hurt. What I feel is just an echo, but the wound in my torso is all too real and I can't make myself move to even look down. "It's not me,its Edward."


	3. Chapter 3

**Tether**

* * *

 **Romance/Supernatural/Drama**

 **Story takes place in a futuristic alternative universe.**

 **Twilight doesn't belong to me.**

 **Flashback in Italics.**

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 **Three  
**

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Waking up is like crawling through quick stand with frozen limbs and the moments of lucidity never last very long. Somewhere in the back of my mind I acknowledge that I must have been pretty dreadfully hurt to be put in an artificial coma. I only know this because it isn't a first time experience for me. An artificial coma is a forced sleep that was developed when humans became immune to medically induced coma.

An artificial coma is induced by injecting nanites into the bloodstream which send signals to the brain to sleep for a certain period of time and when they're ready to wake you they simply kill of the nanites and allow your body to wake naturally but that doesn't mean the brain doesn't fight back. The subconscious mind knows the difference between real and fake REM cycles.

It's like suspended animation and forces your body to heal at 5 times the speed of a regular human. Therefore it tends to waver sometimes and you end up with moments of clarity, especially when you've been exposed to it as much as I have. Through those cracks I hear tidbits of conversations. People should really learn not to talk over someone's bedside.

"…bruised pelvis,dislocated shoulder. The Shrapnel missed all of the major organs but bruised her right kidney, tore through mainly muscle tissue which is re-knitting itself as we speak." utters a detached female voice with all the warmth of a distilled robot. The faint sound of fingers tapping against a net screen can be heard.

I assume they're pulling up my medical records and doing a neural scan which would explain the slight tingling in my brain, but that too could be the effects of being halfway between sleep and awake.

"Poor thing, offspring of mismatched sets always heal just a little slower than normal, even with medical assistance. Must be something in the genes." Another softer female voice comments and there's a faint touch of fingers against my forehead. It's the unspoken rule in society that you don't mention mismatched couples in polite conversation, most like to pretend that such a faction of people doesn't exist and I guess it brings them a sense of comfort. Some behave as if pairs like my parents are unnatural and a danger to humanity. If I could I'd have scoffed in disdain, but unfortunately I'm used to discriminating remarks even the ones that seem harmless still get under my skin after all this time.

Even the most liberal of my friends at school seemed inappropriately fascinated by the fact that I was the offspring of a mismatched couple, all the under the impression that I'd somehow be drastically different and by different I know the mean stupid and uncultured and slow, unattractive. In the early years I used to go the extra mile to prove them wrong, before I realized that it didn't matter what they thought or expected of me.

Some people even went as far as to hide their status but I tend not to judge those who choose to do so. It's not anyone's business to know and once upon a time I would've denied what I was. Let's just say society likes to pretend that discrimination against mismatched couples and their offspring does not exist. It doesn't help our case that most mismatched couples can't have kids further reinforcing that we're other, but personally I think there's more evidence to support that environmental pollution is a significant factor.

Most mismatched cases live in poverty stricken sectors or production sectors where air pollution, even after all these years, is at its worse and genetic mutations through the generations for some reason have made humans more sensitive to the effects of pollution instead of the opposite. Scientist in the earlier days theorized that we'd become immune to it but instead we became more fragile in that respect. Which is why most of the air is filtered and there's such a tenuous balance between technology and nature. I'm one of the fortunate many to live in Arcadia and my parents have made it a point to keep me away from the production sectors.

"Because mismatched couples don't produce the best of humanity into one person. Are you really that surprised that there are anomalies about them? In my opinion they shouldn't be allowed to have offspring. It's already a shame to our society that these bonds exist, but no they have to create life too. Then they grow up with the same moral fiber as their parents." Another voice remarks scornfully and the first inhales sharply and I don't imagine the harsh reprimand in her voice.

"Irina! Not everything is black and white not even in a world such as ours. You took an oath when you became a healer to treat everyone with equal care and to discriminate against none, bring harm to none. You'd do good to remember that, least anyone hears your blasphemous remarks." My heart warms a little at the defense of me and after that there's a pregnant silence and I think they won't speak again.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you were a sympathizer but rest assured whatever my personal feelings. I never let them affect the quality of my work." She replies haughtily. If that's true then why am I half awake and half asleep? But really you're going to have this conversation while I'm lying here injured, I think sarcastically.

"And I think that you're just jealous of the contributions of Charles Swan to the medical and environment field. It's what the fourth time you've come in second place to him for the Jager Award for scientific mind of the year?" It's a rhetorical question of course but it does its job of irritating Irina if her marked silence is anything to go by before she remarks fiercely. " Everyone knows he doesn't deserve it, my innovations over the past three years have saved millions of lives and he gets acknowledged for planting pretty flowers." Well she's one bitter apple if nothing else and I wish I could laugh, but the other healer does it for me when she chuckles softly.

"And by everyone you mean you. Millions is a gross over exaggeration, besides the longevity of our ecosystem is a paramount issue, especially after what happened in Amdora last year. His work is essential to ensuring the continued survival of mankind for the next thousands of years even. Plus he solved the problem of oxygen degradation so that you have the breath to make disparaging comments about his daughter . Do you really want to get kicked off such a high profile case?"

Her statement causes another escalated pause Irina Sighs reluctantly " No, I'll keep my comments to myself if you stop kissing Charles' ass in hopes of him awarding you the Martian grant Alice. He's not even in the room and you only worked with him once." From her tone of voice, I can discern that she secretly wishes that it was her.

"Agreed….and I won't tell anyone about how unprofessional you were today." Angela replies with a false saccharine voice. "Pass me the gauze…." before I can ponder the issue of their conversation further darkness embraces me with cold, lithe, unforgiving arms.

When I come to again, I feel hands caressing my forehead again and a slight humming of a song I don't recognize but I doubt I'd be able to comprehend much anyway. My head feels like cotton balls and string. Maybe I've got a concussion too but I disregard that conclusion as quickly as it arrives.

" How much longer will she be under?" Someone utters softly and I can almost feel their breath whiff across my cheeks.

"Two days, the laser dart that he was shot with was laced with poison. We had to neutralize them both before anything else could be done. She's been picking up the slack, helping him heal before she heals herself. " I recognize the voice from earlier and I'm grateful that it isn't Irina speaking to whoever is by my side. Something tells me her bed side manner leaves much to be desired no matter how much of a brilliant healer she seems to think she is.

"Is the bond that strong?" She reflects in disbelief. As if someone told her that the sky is composed of apples and oranges not eaten by the angels.

"Yes and heightened proximity to each other is helping it along. You shouldn't worry though its normal and I've seen it many times." The healer reassures with a confident cadence." She can't feel his pain either in case you were wondering as you know the bond must be consecrated for that to happen, But I still thought I'd mention it."

I'm slipping into the nothingness again. If I didn't feel like roasted road kill I'd find it in myself to be annoyed at my hovering in and out of consciousness. Dozens of questions flutter around in my head like startled butterflies to the point where it's almost a physical sensation. What happened to us? The one thing I want to know, that no one is talking about.

* * *

The lights are too bright even behind closed lids I can feel it piercing down on me, my heads pounding like a frantic alarm system and my throat is as forgiving as sandpaper. My eyelids are stiff like they've been glued together with wax. " Isabella, try to keep as still as possible you've been under for three days, drink this." I'm instructed and before I can protest as soon as I open my mouth a cool capsule is placed on my tongue by gentle hands. The capsule dissolves instantly and my throat no longer feels like a scorched desert.

"Lean back gently." soft hands lightly tilt my head back and a drop of liquid is placed in each of my eyes- it smells like mouth wash and feels like jelly but doesn't sting- and their hands gently manipulate my eyelids in a circular motion. The same is normally done with new born babies to ease their transition into reality and I guess you can say for the next 20 minutes I basically am a newborn to the healers. " You've been asleep for five days, everything's healed well but you'll still feel some phantom pains in your pelvis and left shoulder." The healer gently explains.

"Can you active my retina scanner? I want to get caught up on what I've missed. Where's my parents?" My voice is wispy and thin, barely above a whisper and I'm surprised she even heard me. I want to ask for information on Edward but I know she won't tell me. I'd have better luck prying that kind of information out of my parents.

"They told me, that's the first thing you'd ask. Unfortunately I can't do that. Your parents are in the waiting room and they'll come in when I've finished my post-op examination." She fluffs my pillow and elevates the bed rest so that I'm sitting up right. "You can open your eyes now." She reassures and I tentatively separate my eyelids from each other.

The lighting in my room has been dimmed to a twilight atmosphere. The hospital room is simple and painted in light pastel colors-blue,lilac and aqua-and I briefly wonder if Dad pulled some strings to get my room specialized as those are my favorite colors. It is furnished with a med doc: a bed that looks like a large incubator stuffed with blankets and pillows that floats above the ground.

A rotating scanner rolls over my body with periodic beeping and I watch as it records the current state of my body on the holo screen on the wall in front of me, my nervous system is lit up like a neon sigh and more information is loaded below the imagine but I can't read it from this distance. It hurts my eyes to try so I don't windows are seamless and dressed in heavy drapes, stainless metal cupboards are attached to the right wall, next to it a small vent and right next to it a door that I assume leads to the bathroom. The rest of the walls are bare to facilitate holo screens.

My healer stands at the lonely vent cleansing her hands(using water for methods of cleaning is strictly prohibited instead chemicals and bacteria are eradicated by laser waves programmed to destroy them). I observe her silently as she goes about her task. She is draped in typical healers robes, a shapeless pant suit held together by a series of wraps, bright pink in compliments her dark skin.

Healers are always draped in bright colors. Dull colors more specifically white and grey were banned from hospitals after Volutri proved that a vibrant environment has a marked improvement effect on the healing process and blank colors slow it down. When he first concluded this study, even backed with mountains of evidence in the form of case studies, experts regarded his research as utter nonsense. It would be two years before any hospital would apply "the color wheel effect". The first being 's hospital in Ethenia, within a year the survival rate increased by 2%. Soon afterwards every hospital followed by example.

I'm getting off tract again. Nice to note that my patent for daydreaming still lives on.I turn back to my has a petite frame and fluffy scattered curls on her head that have been subdued into a single french braid that lies against her mid back. Sharp pixie like features adorn her face and she lightly bounces on the balls of her feet,like a balloon filled with too much helium, as she reads through the results of the body scan. This little show of agitation conflicts with the gentle, confident hands that directed me not moments ago. I can't make out the color of her eyes from this angle and if she knows that I'm observing her she doesn't show it.

The healer walks over to my bedside and attaches two paper thin stripes to the inside of each elbow, spraying a light blue liquid over it before smoothing with her fingers. I grit my teeth as the sensation of millions of tiny needles rolls over my skin. Its gone before it becomes really painful. "Painkiller patch, It'll release a dose of medicine to you every two hours until you don't need it anymore. I'll get your parents for you." She murmurs, her eyes are hazel, and makes her way to the door and just as it slides open I call out to her.

"I didn't get your name?" I wonder if she's Irina or Alice. I can't imagine her to be Irina, if is she then she's a very accomplished actress. "Healer Alice, I'll come back to check on you in a few hours and then you can be discharged." Then she disappears beyond the sliding door.

I sigh and blow a raspberry silently contemplating activating my retina scanner myself , then again is it really worth the hassle? I shift my body slightly to the left and the sharp ache that sprints through my body puts a dent in my plans to raid the medicine cabinet across from my med bed to see if the active chip is stored there even though there's a slim likely hood. I'm just not one of those person's that can sit still for long and I've been asleep for nearly four days so I deserve just a little bit of wanton adventure. Besides I'm more worried for Edward than I am for myself, it's never a good thing when healers lips are tightly sealed on certain matters.

It reminds me of when my aunt Maggie died 3 years ago. She was working in one of the poorer districts with a humanitarian group as part of a development project. It was only supposed to last for 5 years but she signed off for another five years of service. No one had many questions about why she didn't want to return to Arcadia. You see even though you find out who your mate is at 17, you can always choose to live without them, choose to live apart. To never get to know them and just live your life as a signal. It's never spoken of why she made the decision and being my mom's sister it sparked more controversy and debate about "defective gene's" in our society.

Maggie was a free spirited and my favorite aunt, well my only aunt. She wanted to travel to the outlands beyond the boundaries of the seven sanctuaries and document what she saw and did. The story of her life would've been the first real look at the world beyond the cover. There was only one glitch in her plan, in order for government to approve your exit of the sanctuary you must be a single. The most important one of the long list of regulations and she planned to bypass every one of them, which included working in the poorer sectors to see if she could withstand the higher levels of pollution.

She confided in me that it was the hardest, most terrifying wonderful years of her life. Though we were close even I never did find out the reason she stayed those extra years. She could have just payed her due and left, but she didn't and the exposure to chemical pollution finally took a toll on her body. In actuality she wouldn't been fine if she hadn't added on the stress of fighting the bond between her and Liam. Of course no one said as much but I knew, not like it would take a scientist to figure it out.

I'm drawn into remembering her last moments, even then she was a fighter. I thought mom would have been the person she'd spent her last hours with but instead she sent for me. I grew up twice in the span of three months and no one knew it but me. The parents suspected but I was firm in that I was okay.

 _Her hair was a dull reddish brown that laid in a limp sickly halo around her head, thinned out from the treatments that didn't work. Maggie was never a slender woman but seeing her now reduced to nothing was more frightening, her skin stretched taunt over bone. At most she probably weighed 90 pounds. Her eyelids were bruised , her lips pale and cracked. If I didn't know any better I'd have thought she was already gone, but no one could mistake her shuddering labored breathing. It rattled her chest and shook her entire body._

 _Tears filled my eyes and I wanted to run from the room. I stood by the door not wanting to go any closer. This person, that thing laying there was not my aunt but it was and my heart ached for her as if it would rip from my chest in grief. I wanted to call someone tell them how cruel it was, that she should've been afforded a death far more merciful. To scream and yell: why'd you leave her like this?_

 _It was the first time I'd ever been brushed by death , you could even smell it in the room and even without mom or dad saying anything when they shuffled me into the room I knew was going to be the last time I ever spoke to her. I was so scared my fingers trembled. I felt like such a coward, but I wanted to be strong for her. So I made my way over to her bed side and climbed up beside her, shuffling her gently into my arms like you would a porcelain doll. Tears streaming down my face, remembering all the time she did the same for me._

 _Her eyelids slowly cracked open and I could see how it hurt her even to smile at me. " Bella." She rasped and gripped my hand with surprising strength. " You're growing into such a beautiful young lady and I see you got your hair clip today."_

 _I tried to stop crying like such a baby and be the comforter for once, no one should have to be the stronger in their dying moments. I wanted to make it easier for Maggie. So I swallowed my emotions and did my best to give a real smile, as she played with my hair. I stared the blue, green veins that I could see so clearly. She was like paper, but still felt human. " Yeah, it's blue and silver my favorite color. There was a ceremony and everything and Keeper Didyme was there which was really exciting as she rarely makes appearances and she blessed all of us." I'm proud to say that my voice doesn't crack and my sniffles are contained to my chest. If she noticed my shaking she wasn't bothered by it._

 _She makes a pleasing sound in the back of her throat, nodding slightly. "I remember when I got my pin. I was so nervous that your grandma Marie considered pacifying me. It was a much smaller group at the time and only one keeper, but I remember he wore bright blue robes that trailed the ground behind him when he walked and was so tall he towered over everyone there the mayor. He had such dark hair and eyes that if it wasn't for his brightly colored robes I'd have thought he was a dark angel. At the time I didn't know why I was so moved by his presence. Like a mortal staring up at a Greek God, so I did my utmost best to disguise it and just wrote it off as jitters. It wouldn't be until four years later that I'd find out why I thought of him every night and every morning as I woke up." She takes a another shuddering breath and coughs silently. It wracks her entire frame and I coo and cradle and murmur reassurances like I would with a baby._

 _"He was my soul mate and his name was Liam. You couldn't imagine my shock, but there he was and in the secret place of my heart I had known that he was but I was just a girl and too scared to admit it to myself." Aunt Maggie's voice has a babyish cadence now and I don't think she even remembers I'm here so I just stroke what's left of her hair ignoring the clumps that fall out. It's unfair that I've been thrust into this position, yet I can't imagine anyone else being in my shoes. I let her continue careful not to interrupt. She doesn't need me to say anything, I just need to listen. Even as she's dying I can't help but be fascinated as she continues with her story. Aunt Maggie was notoriously private about the identity of her mate and I don't recognize the name which isn't surprising as my mom and her sister are from Ethenia. There's a glazed look in her eyes as she continues._

 _" I've always had a major dose of wander lust in my system with questions no one could answer, but I won't lie and say that the identity of my mate didn't factor into my decision to be the first woman to explore the out lands. It cemented it. After my confirmation on the last day of school, I didn't talk to anyone. I went straight home and to my room, getting away from the burning questions your mother had for me wasn't easy either." She pauses and closes her eyes for a moment and I almost think that she'd fallen asleep but just as abruptly she opens her eyes again._

 _" I only allowed myself to speak to him once. I was just in shock the entire time that I was mated to a Keeper and in the back of my head, underneath all the adrenaline of finally meeting who I was meant to be with, I knew what it meant for me and for him. I could tell even from the one conversation, that he loved his job and the children of Ethenia. I knew he would never leave his post to someone else, it would break him and inevitably me if he did."_

 _Keepers are supposed to remain pure and separate from us , they're normally picked and trained from a small pool of individuals that have not been matched. There hadn't been a case of a keeper having a match since the first days in the after._

 _"I was young and rebellious , I wanted to be my own person and foolishly I thought to be with him would be giving up who I was instead of being a part of something greater than me." She pauses again and swallows hard, it's clear to me that its painful to speak and just as I'm about to voice my opinion she gently shakes her head. " No, I have to tell you this. Don't get me wrong, even now I don't regret my decision and I've lived my life to the extreme and I've seen and experienced things people my age will never get to see. I'm not afraid to die My only regret is that I have to take him with me in death. He doesn't get to live on. I was selfish and he was selfless in so many ways. I knew that for the brief meetings where I allowed myself to know him." Tears slip down her hallowed cheeks and I wipe them away._

 _"But I should have done things differently, I wanted the world. I could've had so much more than I allowed myself to. I thought that giving in meant giving up my dreams but it didn't. I refused his mark that day, but he still wanted to know me and I couldn't bare the temptation. So we met ,the more time we spent together it was clear he expected nothing from me. At first I was very intimidated by him, he was so much older and wiser and of course handsome." We both giggle like lunatics at this point and I'm grateful that she has this reprieve from the pain._

 _She goes on to give me more details about how she kept the truth from mom and her parents and made arrangements to leave; join the humanitarian program and submit her application for exit after all the requirements were met. She avoided him all throughout the process. They didn't consummate the bond, so it made it just a little easier for her to leave._

 _"He deserved so much more than me, gave me everything and I gave him nothing. I finally realized that I needed him more than he needed me. I was cruel and tactless when I last saw him in hopes that he'd forget but he used his connections to get my net screen address and he wrote to me every day. I never replied. Eventually the letters stopped coming." She chokes out and clings to me tighter, before reaching underneath the pillow next to her, pulling out a thin flat disk. " It's a memory disk." she states and slips into the front pocket of my robe, gently brushing over the material with her skeletal fingers._

 _"And once again, I'm going to be selfish. He's on the 6th floor room 9812. He doesn't want to see me and who'd blame him after everything and all these years apart. I want you to give this to him, we're blood so the biometer will recognize you and you're slight of frame. You can get pass the keeper. I only have hours left." anxiety crinkles new lines between her brows._

 _" I want him to finally know what he meant to me. " I'm too emotionally numb to panic or freak out at what she wants me to do, I just nod stiffly . I'll do it, she smiles at the determination that settles in my eyes._

 _"You don't need me to tell you that life is short even with all this advancement to prolong life, we're not meant to live forever or even close to forever. I want you to learn from my mistakes. I know your mother has tried to poison you away from the concept of soulmates, mostly because of what I've done and what she's been through but you have to know that It's the most amazing thing that will happen to you. When it happens to you promise me that you'll give it a chance, that you won't run. The bond doesn't make you love someone that comes from deep within, it just shows you what could be and you must do the rest. So . promise me you'll give yourself a chance."_

 _I can't hold back the tears now, staring into her glassy eyes and doll like face._

 _"I promise." I whisper solemnly and aunt Maggie nods before slipping into unconsciousness again, the rhythm of her weak pulse beneath my fingertips reassures me. "I promise."  
_

In the end I did what she asked of me, and I never told my parents what transpired between us. I was brave. Liam was moved by whatever he saw on the memory disk and he was moved to her room, for the most part he had looked healthy but anyone could see that his heart was broken and what was left was a shell but there was some spark in his eye as gazed upon my aunt for the first time in over ten years. They died that night cuddled in one med bed, in each others arms. Though Aunt Maggie never did wake up to see him her body and soul recognized it was a peaceful passing for them both and I didn't cry until the Away ceremony. I didn't cry again until I was all alone the night after. Somewhere in the records they're recorded as the first keeper match in 120 years. The diary she used to document her travels and findings in stored in the National archives, thankfully she didn't include any extraordinary details about her family just know we're related and that's it.

So yeah hospitals regardless of their cheery staff and neutral atmosphere will always be a terrible place for me so even though I've only just met him, I need to know that Edward is okay. I need to see him with my own eyes and know what happened. Until then i rub my fingers absentmindedly over the bandage still attached to my wrist.


End file.
